The Lion and the Wolf
by throneofss
Summary: The scene in which Aedion confronts Gavriel except it's from Gavriel's point of view might expand on in the future


The meat the woman had cooked the two Fae was bland, tough, and unidentifiable, yet no worse than some things Gavriel had eaten in his lifetime. He chewed and chewed the meat although it always stayed in one large clump. Gabriel paused his incessant chewing when he looked up to see Fenrys scowling at his plate of meat and beans.

"Just eat it," Gavriel said around the meat clump as he shook his head, "we have had worse."

"Gav, just because we've had worse doesn't mean I can't be annoyed about it, nor does it mean I have to want to eat it. Not all of us are as tasteless as you."

Gavriel ignored the jab and continued to chew.

Fenrys pushed his mushy beans around his plate.

He froze for a moment.

"Are they _brown_?" he said peering closer, "Do they look brown to you? I thought beans were meant to be green."

"You're thinking of green beans. There's different types of beans, you know that right?"

"Ah, of course I do..." He said, rolling his eyes.

It was quiet for a moment.

"I fucking _hate_ beans," he said, poking a particularly mushy bean.

"Don't curse, it's impolite."

"Oh ever the gentleman Gav," Fenrys paused his poking, looking at Gavriel, "Are you still chewing that same piece of meat?"

"What?" Gavriel said innocently.

Fenrys raised an eyebrow, his fork held loosely in his hand, pointed in Gavriel's direction, as he rested his elbow on the table.

" _Really_."

A piece of bean dropped off of Fenrys' fork.

They both stared at it splashed on the table.

Fenrys, with a look of disgust, and Gavriel, with a look of disdain as he tried to discretely swallow the clump of meat.

Unfortunately it went down slower than expected, as it lodged in his throat.

He winced, choking a little.

Fenrys' head snapped up at the sound of Gavriel choking.

"HA! See, you can barely even swallow it its so awful," Fenrys said with a smirk, swinging his fork around in a small circle at Gavriel.

Gavriel pinned him with a look. He was always the mature one. The serious one.

Fenrys sighed and stabbed a bean with his fork, bringing it up towards his mouth.

Slowly.

 _Very_ slowly.

"Seriously?" Gavriel said with a raised eyebrow, his fork also raised.

Fenrys just stuck out his tongue and opened his mouth regretfully.

Both males froze as the door to the taproom swung open and a man and a woman stepped into the room.

The man, no... the male, was tall, built.

 _Strong_.

Scars peppered his large, tanned hands. He was dressed in a green tunic and pants, his honey gold hair glinting in the light cast from the open window. His harsh mouth was set in a firm line and his thick brows were pushed in. He had a harsh but handsome face.

A familiar face. One so similar to his own. Like a murky reflection.

There was no mistaking who this was. He could tell by his scent.

The woman beside him was smaller, curvy, gorgeous. She had thick, dark hair, and bright intelligent green eyes.

Gavriel barely even noticed her. He was too focused on the male before him and the Ashryver eyes, lit with rage, as they bore into him.

Gabriel's heart faltered. Faltered, then _stopped_ , then started, then stopped again. Faster with each breath.

Gavriel stood slowly, schooling his features into an unreadable expression.

This male... this male was his _son_.

This male was _Aedion Ashryver._

He looked like her.

Gavriel's heart began to fracture at the memory of the woman he had loved.

 _Still_ loved.

This was little more than an ambush on him. No doubt his son was taking advantage of the element of surprise to test him, see how he would react when put on the spot.

Fenrys sat in shocked silence, glancing between him and Aedion, his fork still raised to his gaping mouth.

Aedion began to walk towards him. Gavriel didn't know what to say.

"You look..." Gavriel breathed, sinking into his chair, "You look so much like her."

He looked so much like Aelin as well, the resemblance was uncanny. But everyone in that room knew what ' _her_ ' he was referring to.

It was Aedion's mother's eyes that he was looking into. _Her_ eyes that were filled with that thrashing rage.

Grief tore through him like a hurricane, destroying everything in it's path and tearing his heart apart once more. He felt Fenrys watching him with concern, that stupid fork still raised between his mouth, now a grim line, and his plate of cold beans.

They called him The Lion.

Lions were strong, big, brave.

He did not feel like any of those things in that moment.

He felt as if the world was being torn out from under him. For once he didn't know what to say, how to _act_.

Such fury swam in his son's Ashryver eyes. Such fury directed at him.

The wolf opened his mouth and spoke the words that began to tear the Lion apart.

"Shedied so your _queen_ wouldn't get her claws on me."

Gavriel stopped breathing then.

Aedion's sneer deepened, "They could have cured her in the fae compounds, but she wouldn't go near them for fear of Maeve,"--such pure, unadulterated hatred was contained in that one name that shivers flashed down Gavriel's spine--"knowing I existed. For fear I'd be enslaved to her as _you_ were."

Gavriel went cold.

The wolf snarled at the lion, "She was twenty-three years old. She never married, and her family shunned her. She refused to tell anyone who'd sired me, and took their disdain, their humiliation, without an ounce of self pity. She did it because she loved _me_ , not you."

He looked into those eyes. That face.His heart fracturing more and more with each word his son spat at him.

It hurt, not only because of the hatred in those words, but the _truth_ in them. His heart fractured, but each piece was filled with love for the woman he had lost not so long ago. Love at her bravery and at her sacrifice for their son.

He saw the hate in his son's eyes and he understood it. He didn't blame him.

Aedion growled, "If your _bitch_ of a queen tries to take me, I'll slit her throat. If she hurts my family any more than she already has, I'll slit _yours_ , too"

He would not allow his son to be taken by Maeve. Aedion may hate him, but Gavriel would protect him, if not for love of his son, but for love of the woman he lost. He would not allow her sacrifice to be in vain.

He couldn't bare to even think her name.

"Aedion." He rasped, his voice raw with emotion.

Pain filled his son's eyes at the name his mother gave him. Pain, and fury.

The wolf growled once more, "I want nothing from you. Unless you plan to help us, in which case I will not object to the...assistance. But beyond that, I want nothing from you."

No, Gavriel thought, _please_.

"I'm sorry," he said, his soul in pieces.

For a split second, he saw a flash of hesitation in Aedion's eyes. A flash of regret. A _pause_. And for that split second Gavriel felt hope.

But it disappeared when Aedion said quietly, yet firmly, "I'm not the one you need to apologize to."

And then he turned away.

He was right.

"Please," he said, pleading, desperate, as his son clamped his hand around the door handle.

"Go to hell," was his son's only words as he disappeared out the door, the shifter close behind him.

Fenrys was shell-shocked, staring down at his cold, now inedible beans and meat, his fork still clutched in his hand but now resting on the table.

Gavriel sat staring at the door, left ajar.

Gavriel knew he was in for one hell of a ride.

After 10 minutes of absolute stillness, the sound of another bean falling onto the table broke the silence, followed by Fenrys' two, whispered words.

"Holy _fuck_."

Gavriel didn't bother to reprimand him for the impolite language.

He was right.

 _Holy fuck._


End file.
